12 May 2009

Here's a good one. A hospital not far from the Grumble hospital is holding daily meetings to deal with the 'flu crisis. Not that they have seen a case yet but that does not stop them worrying. The Trust board is worried about how the 'flu might affect them. One of the questions they have been asking is whether or not the current 'flu vaccine will give any protection against swine 'flu. Nobody actually knows the answer to this question. The hospital concerned has 18 doses of the vaccine left. It expires soon so it has to be used. Who should get it? That is the dilemma. If you were to ask Dr Grumble he would say the infectious diseases staff should get it. Or maybe the intensive care staff. Or perhaps they could do the decent thing and offer it to local GPs who are the ones that have to go into people's homes and take the swabs. Any of these would be a reasonable choice. Guess who they decided should be offered the vaccine. Can you believe that they decided that the members of the Trust board should be immunised?

That's fantastic. It's good to see the trust board volunteering to muck in and man the trenches whilst the entire staff are dying. They say management are above that - clearly, your local board are seriously down-to-earth.

I'm sure the septic patient going off at 4 in the morning will appreciate one of the non-executive directors assuring them that the board will convene a meeting to discuss her situation in a month's time.